There are some phrases in foreign languages that are just good to know. Hello (hej), good bye (hej d\u00e5) thanks (tack), where is the bathroom (var \u00e4r toaletten), every other hippo is Swedish (varannan flodh\u00e4st \u00e4r svensk), you know, the usual.<\/p>\n
But within those useful terms are some things that can be tricky, like frequency terms and the word for every other, varannan<\/em>. Depending on what we are talking about, that word will change. Let\u2019s say that you call your mom every other day, so: Let\u2019s say though that you have poor cell phone service and only call your mom every other year. So what happened? Varannan<\/em> became vartannat<\/em>. Just like so many other things in Swedish, en<\/em> and ett<\/em> dictate what form various words will take. So if we are using an ett<\/em> word, ett \u00e5r<\/em> for example, we use vartannat<\/em>. If we are using an en<\/em> word, en dag<\/em> for example, we use varannan<\/em>.<\/p>\n The same thing happens if we want to describe something happening less frequently, maybe every seventh time for example. Maybe you eat candy every seventh day, on Saturday for example (l\u00f6rdagsgodis<\/em>!). Maybe you\u2019re a stickler for good dental hygiene though and you only allow yourself to eat candy every seventh year. Just like with varannan<\/em> and vartannat<\/em>, we get var<\/em> and vart<\/em> depending on whether the word is an en<\/em> word (en dag<\/em>) or an ett<\/em> word (ett \u00e5r<\/em>).<\/p>\n You can do the same if you want to describe that every other car is black (varannan bil \u00e4r svart<\/em>). Or that every third house is red (vart tredje hus \u00e4r r\u00f6tt<\/em>). Pretty simple, right? The only slight exception to this is that if you want to say every day or every year or every car or every house, you use the word varje<\/em>: varje dag<\/em>, varje \u00e5r<\/em>, varje bil<\/em>, varje hus<\/em>. Below you\u2019ll find a short list of some of the words you\u2019ll need, a few examples, and a quick practice prompt. Good luck!<\/p>\n En<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n Ett<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n <\/p>\n T.ex.: Now it\u2019s your turn in the comments section: Skriv tv\u00e5 saker du g\u00f6r. Anv\u00e4nd varje (eller var tredje eller var femte eller\u2026).<\/p>\n **Some feedback from our readers reminded me that I forgot to include the word(s) var(t)enda, which means “every single.”**<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There are some phrases in foreign languages that are just good to know. Hello (hej), good bye (hej d\u00e5) thanks (tack), where is the bathroom (var \u00e4r toaletten), every other hippo is Swedish (varannan flodh\u00e4st \u00e4r svensk), you know, the usual. But within those useful terms are some things that can be tricky, like frequency…<\/p>\n
\nI call my mom every other day = Jag ringer min mamma varannan dag<\/em>.<\/p>\n
\nI call my mom every other year = Jag ringer min mamma vartannat \u00e5r<\/em>.<\/p>\n
\nI eat candy every seventh day. = Jag \u00e4ter godis var sjunde dag<\/em>.<\/p>\n
\nI eat candy every seventh year. = Jag \u00e4ter godis vart sjunde \u00e5r<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n
\n \n \n \n Varje<\/td>\n Varje<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Varannan<\/td>\n Vartannat<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Var tredje<\/td>\n Vart tredje<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Var fj\u00e4rde<\/td>\n Vart fj\u00e4rde<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Var femte<\/td>\n Vart femte<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Var sj\u00e4tte<\/td>\n Vart sj\u00e4tte<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Var tionde<\/td>\n Vart tionde<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Var tjugonde<\/td>\n Vart tjugonde<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Var hundrade<\/td>\n Vart hundrade<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Var tusende<\/td>\n Vart tusende<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n
\nJag \u00e4ter frukost varje dag.
\nJag ser mina f\u00f6r\u00e4ldrar varannan m\u00e5nad.
\nJag \u00e5ker till Sverige vart tredje \u00e5r.<\/p>\n